I’m not actually angry or upset about this Seahawks Thursday Night Football loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Far from it.

I was angry a few weeks ago when the Seahawks puked up a loss to the Tennessee Titans when they should have put them away with a 14 point lead heading into the fourth quarter. It was a loss that induced an anger in me that stayed for days into weeks. I’m honestly still miffed at that one.

I was pretty upset to see what they did against Minnesota, too. It was honestly one of the worst games of defensive football that I had ever seen from a Seattle Seahawks team and I have been watching pretty much every game since 1983. That’s a lot of Seahawk football I’ve taken in.

After those two losses, I have dropped all expectations I had about the Seahawks for 2021. So, this loss to the Rams doesn’t really bug me. I’m disappointed Seattle lost, but I’m not upset that they did.

The Rams are a better team. They have better talent on defense, and collectively, they play better offense.

We can debate all we want to about who the better quarterback is between Russell Wilson, and Matthew Stafford (I say Russell is), but I don’t think it matters.

I’m not a Stafford believer, and I don’t think he is remarkably better than Jared Goff. This game didn’t alter my opinion. I think Sean McVay coaches a very friendly offense for quarterbacks to play well in. Goff had very little troubles beating Seattle in this offense when he was in a Rams uniform, and now Stafford can have a bit of a clunker, too, and still beat Seattle with relative ease.

If you have any doubts on just how well this style of offense can suit almost any given somewhat capable quarterback, just look at none other than Geno Smith when he had to replace Russell Wilson in the second half. Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is running mostly the same offense up here, and if I am to be honest, of the three quarterbacks that played this Thursday night, I thought Smith looked the best.

But the issue for the Seahawks is not Russell Wilson and the offense. The issue is a defense that I cannot fathom is a defense of a Pete Carroll coached team. I could write a long piece about all the issues I see on this defense.

I think they are needlessly light up front at defensive tackle and because of that, they can’t stop the run as games wear on.

I think they are also needlessly light at cornerback and that is preventing them from playing a style of coverage that Pete Carroll would likely prefer.

I think the Ken Norton Junior is long cooked as a defensive coordinator and I fear Pete Carroll’s loyalty to him will prevent Carroll from making a much needed change.

Because of all of this, I have little faith these 2021 will be a playoff contending team by December. If you can’t reliably stop the run, and you can’t stop the pass, you aren’t going to win enough games. It doesn’t greatly matter who you have at quarterback. You are always going to be forced to win shootouts with the disadvantage of the other team having the better defense to go against.

So, really, I’m just in this as a fan who loves and adores the Seattle Seahawks, and will watch every game this season looking for the little victories and hoping these Seahawks will build towards something special again down the road.

The Good little victories in this game.

Good for Geno Smith going into this game in the second half and replacing an injured Russell Wilson when Aaron Donald and company were looking to further shut this Seattle offense down.

Smith is probably a pretty limited quarterback, but he looked poised in the face of pressure, got the ball off quick and mostly on target finding open receivers down the middle of the field. Smith moved well to evade pressures and picked up yardage with his legs, and he spun tight balls down field to tight ends, and DK Metcalf. It would have been a tremendous story if he would have pulled out a win, and he had a chance towards the end before throwing an interception when Tyler Lockett tripped on the top of his route.

We will see if Smith can lead Seattle to any victories in place of Russell Wilson if Wilson can’t go over the next few games. Again, I don’t have great expectations but I’m here for him as a fan. I’m pulling for him.

This was a good game for DK Metcalf. It was fun seeing him beat Jalen Ramsey for a touchdown against weirdly soft coverage (news flash; I’m not wild about the state of the Rams defense either). For Seattle to stand a chance against any decent team this year, they need games like this from DK. I’m encouraged.

For as putrid as the Seahawks defense seems to be, Darrell Taylor has now collected four sacks in five games into the season. That is super promising, and it looks like, if he can stay healthy, he has a decent chance to develop into the next great Seahawks edge rusher. That’s something to build on.

Michael Dickson remains a punting god, and it pains me to say it, but I think he might be the best player on the Seahawk roster right now. Anyhoo, that’s something, at least.

The Bad

The Seattle Seahawks are paying Jamal Adams big time money to be a play-maker and a difference maker on their defense and he is doing neither through five games. I think he had a particularly bad game against the Rams. He gave up an easy touchdown to a tight end that a supposed premier strong safety simply is not supposed to give up.

This label of Adams being a “defensive weapon” appears to have escaped Ken Norton Junior. The defensive coach seems to be very stubborn not using him enough in the box, where he is able to play at his best. It’s probably due to the poor play at corner where Norton feels he needs to play Adams deeper, but the sad fact remains. Seahawks are not getting the most out of what is supposed to be their best player on defense and that is a firing offense.

At this point, if they aren’t going to alter their defense to allow Adams to play to his strengths, I think they might as well look to trade him. Unfortunately, I fear they will do neither.

To dump more on this defense, I’m here to tell you that Pete Carroll has lost his way at what he used to prefer up front at defense tackle, and it painfully showed up in the second half of this game against the Rams. Through the height of his tenure as head coach and vice president of this team, the Seahawks carried a bulk of big bruising defenders inside, and they often came in waves.

Red Bryant, Brandon Mebane, Colin Cole, Alan Branch, Tony McDaniel, Kevin Williams, Ahtyba Rubin, and Jarran Reed were all first and foremost big beastly run stuffers who could occasionally get after the quarterback, as well. This effort against the Rams was a tipping point for me. I have zero faith that this defense can turn it around, and it is almost squarely on what they carry on the roster inside up front, and their stubbornness to shore things up.

LJ Collier is too light and not twitchy enough to be much of a defensive tackle and they used him rotating at three technique behind Poona Ford (also not the biggest guy). Al Woods gives good effort but he is probably a rotational piece on most other defenses. Brian Mone is proving more and more to just be a guy. Seattle desperately needs help inside, and it numbs my mind why they haven’t added there when Geno Aktins and many other proven sorts are available as free agents. This has costed them at least two of their three losses through five games. People can belabor what Seattle has at corner, but if you can’t reliably stop the run, well then..

The Ugly

Russell Wilson’s dislocated middle finger on his throwing hand. Well, the one thing many Seahawk fans have feared for years appears to now be upon us.

Russell Wilson is injured enough where it is likely he could miss a few games. It’s a darn shame too because I thought this Waldron offense was on the verge of taking off for him. Even though the Rams jumped ahead after the half, I was still believing Russ could win a shootout against a Ram defense that really isn’t that good.

We will see how long Russ is out for, or whether he is going to insist on playing with a middle finger that will give him problems, or if he will shelve himself.

This is not to be meant as over reactive hyperbole, but I just want to touch on this for a moment. If there is an area of Russ’s mind where he is thinking more and more about wanting out of Seattle for a fresh start somewhere else in 2022, for whatever reasons, he might be inclined to sit out several games until he feels his finger is a hundred percent. If he is positioning himself to force his way out, he probably wants to put on film the best version of himself as a passer in 2021 to make himself more trade worthy as an older quarterback with a higher salary.

I’m not going to pretend to know what is inside Russ’s mind on any of this. I’m just going to say that as he approaches the mid life of his career, it’s likely that his legacy will mean more to him than ever before, and if he isn’t seeing it in Seattle like he used to, we might get a longer stretch of Geno Smith playing than we are anticipating right now.

It’s very curious to me that Russell chose not to speak to the media after this game. When Jimmy Garoppolo was knocked out of the game on Sunday for the 49ers, he at least took the time to speak to the press, and it is all a forgone conclusion his days in the Bay area are numbered.

Russ chose not to speak, and it reminds me of the playoff loss to the Rams in January where he chose to take a very long time coming out of the locker room to finally speak very uncharacteristically solemnly to the Seattle press. We all know what followed a view weeks later when he decided to air his views about the Seahawks on a national media tour.

Moving forward

This will be an incredibly interesting time for these Pete Carroll Seahawks over the next ten days before they play again.

They have never faced having to play without Russell Wilson since they drafted him in 2012.

They have so much to fix with their defense.

They are sitting on roughly $11 million dollars in cap space. Does the continual miserable state of this defense force them to now make some bold roster move or two to acquire more talent to try to save their season, and Carroll’s reputation as a defensive minded head coach?

Does Carroll dump Ken Norton Junior as his defensive coordinator when there is a bit of a bigger stretch between games to make a coaching change?

If not, will Carroll stick with Norton out of loyalty and simply take further control of the defense away from him?

If Russ is to miss several games, do they ride with Geno Smith, or do they try to acquire another quarterback to compete?

I will be honest, this is not the state of the Seattle Seahawks that I wanted through the first five games, but I am intrigued.

As a general fan of football, I’m fascinated at where the Seahawks are right now.

I honestly think anything is possible.

I think it’s possible that they are facing a season that is heading towards the toilet bowl quickly where, by the end, owner Jody Allen might be forced into making hard choices with Pete Carroll, especially if she feels her team is in danger of losing future ticket sales in a market that now has an NHL team and a baseball team on the rise. I think that is now very possible.

I also think that Carroll might decide to kick it in the ass, and go all in on trying to win on defense, and make drastic changes within the next few days to try to save the season enough where his team is playing competitively in December. Seattle has curious been sitting with a lot of cap space. Do they now attempt to make a splash trade to help the defense?

I’m curious to see how Geno Smith continues to play if Russ can’t go for a while. The biggest positive that I took away from this dreadful game against the Rams is that the Waldron offense appears to be quarterback friendly. I am interested to see if that holds true through a possible stretch of Geno starting.

I am not wishing for Russell Wilson to eventually be traded away, far from it, but if that times comes, and Waldron is still the play caller, I now have hope that his system is good enough that Seattle’s next quarterback will prove to be useful and productive. That is one silver lining that I personally can feel could about after this game.

Ah, these Seattle Seahawks.

Go Hawks.

Howdy, 12th Life Readers

Before we get into the nit grit of this Seahawks vs Rams preview, just a reminder that I got a new podcast going with some pals that we like to call Dorks On Sports. Above is our latest episode where we go through the Seahawks win over the 49ers, give our keys to the game and predictions with the Rams, have fun with Urban Meyer weirdness, and discuss the Ted Lasso Mariners and other matters. If you like, please follow us on YouTube, Spotify and Apple, and other sources where podcasts are available.

Okay, the Los Angeles Ram.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm..

Throw out all the records when the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams play each other.

No, seriously, throw them away.

These pesky Rams have been a major thorn in the side of Seattle for the better part of a decade now. Even when they were a loserville franchise prior to ditching St Louis and moving back to sunny, scenic Southern California, these Rams have always known how to it it messy for Seattle.

Now a days, with Rams being largely a shinning gem inside a very tough NFC West division, this team has absolutely no fear of Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. Even in an embarrassing loss to the Arizona Cardinals inside their own stadium, immediately afterwards, to a Rams player, they probably collectively thought “that’s okay, we go up to Seattle on Thursday Night.”

On a short week, with the possibility of playing without their two best pass rushers in Carlos Dunlap and Darrell Taylor, the Seattle Seahawks will host a high flying Rams offense that now features the powerful arm talent of Matthew Stafford. Seattle’s defense showed some promise against a good 49er offensive on Sunday in a winning effort where Seattle knocked out the 49er starting quarterback, and forced them to play a raw rookie passer.

Can Seattle’s defense find it within themselves to follow that effort up with another decent outing against Stafford who has found new life as a veteran NFL passer?

This is probably the question that this game is going to come down to as to whether Seattle can pull off back to back wins in a very short week. Can the Seahawks defense just do enough?

Hmmmmmm..

Seahawks win by..

Continuing to do what they did offensively against a good 49er defense from the later portion of the second quarter on. This includes but is not limited to Russell Wilson on the move instead of trying to prove to the world that is he Payton Manning in the pocket, Russell Wilson as a running threat, Russell Wilson throwing dimes off play action boot legs, Russell Wilson supported by a committed and effective run game, Russell Wilson playing up tempo, and finally, Russell Wilson having the keys to the offense in changing calls at the line of scrimmage just like he marvelously did in the second half against the 49ers. If all this happens, I think Seattle hangs a lot of points against these Rams Thursday night.

Alton Robinson, Rasheem Green, Kerry Hyder Jr, and Benson Mayowa (if he plays) gotta come alive as pass rushers against these Rams. It doesn’t look like Darrell Taylor and Carlos Dunlap will be able to go against the Rams with ankle and toe injuries in a short week of practice. If I have to pick one pass rusher to come through on Thursday Night Football for this defense, I’m probably picking Alton Robinson. There is just something about this dude I really like. He kind of reminds me of Cliff Avril a bit. I think that with Dunlap and Taylor out, this game is his grand opportunity to shine. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Green get more active again too, as he might have to shift back more into that Leo role with the other dudes out. However, it works out, though, somebody in this group really needs to step up big.

Continuing to simplify the defense so that Sidney Jones settles down more as the starting left corner, and mixes in better with the other starters is the other really big key in this. Here’s what I want to see out of these guys against the Rams. Be aggressive with the Ram receivers and challenge them. Don’t over think it. Work to upset their timing, challenge their routes and play coverage everyone can be on the same page with. Sidney Jones was a really good cover corner in college at Washington. Let him be a cover corner in this defense. Don’t have him stay in retreat mode because Stafford and company will eat him alive. If Seattle can play aggressive coverage at home in front of jacked up Twelves, that will help their pass rush.

Seahawks lose this one by..

Russell Wilson trying to win this game against Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey as a pocket passer instead of mixing it up all game long. Which side of Russ are we going to get? The one who wants to win it from the pocket, or the one willing to truly challenge a spotty Rams defense with his legs? I really hope it’s the latter and not the former in this one.

Being passive and playing with fear against the strong arm of Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay’s playbook. You know what really made the Legion of Boom great? Yeah, there was some talent involved, sure, but those dudes played fast and fearless. Richard Sherman and whoever played corner opposite of him challenged receivers at the line of scrimmage even with dropping into zones. Carroll needs to remember what the core of his famed defense was about. They played aggressively on the back end and that helped the pass rush out. If Carroll has these DBs playing too safe and soft in coverage against Stafford, this will get ugly as a defense again. That is not a situation I want to see.

Seattle turns the ball over and doesn’t get turnovers. This one is simple. It’s all about the ball. Seattle can’t turn the ball over in this one and give Stafford more scoring opportunities. Seattle’s probably going to need to take the ball away at some point, as well. It is all about the ball.

Prediction

The Seattle Seahawks show some true grit in this one, and win a barnstormer shootout against the Los Angeles Rams, 38-34.

For those that love offense, this is the game for you. I think Seattle now knows what it is on offense. They have to be aggressive in tempo, be willing to take whatever defenses give, and they need Russell Wilson to be a dual threat the whole damn game. This means not allowing pass rushers to key on him when he is a pocket passer. I suspect they got this realized now, and Russell Wilson will have a signature game as a passer and runner. I’m here for it.

Defensively is going to be where the real adventure is for Seattle. This isn’t a great match to be without Carlos Dunlap and Darrell Taylor. Stafford has been getting the ball out quickly, too. I think the Seahawks will have to live and die with being more aggressive in coverage. Sometimes it might look great, but I think it’s probably also going to burn them some, as well.

I do think that at home with the Twelves, Seattle does enough in their pass rush to disrupt Stafford and get him uncomfortable, and I still just don’t believe in Stafford enough when the game is on the line. I think he’s prone to turnovers in those situations and I see those situations happening this Thursday night.

Get ready for a Ryan Neal interception that ignites the crowd and the team.

At least, that’s what I’m hoping for.

Go Hawks.

29-17

That’s the Seattle Seahawks overall record against the San Francisco 49ers after this game on Sunday.

San Francisco 49er Fan loves to flaunt his/her team’s many championship rings in the face of Seattle Seahawk Fan, but the truth is simple between these two clubs, ever since the Seattle Seahawks joined the NFC West in 2002, Seattle has largely owned the San Francisco 49ers.

This isn’t me being a poor winner in the face of San Francisco 49er Fan, either. If San Francisco 49er Fan had read me preview piece heading into this match, San Francisco 49er Fan would have read the praise I heaped on his/her team.

I love what the 49ers are doing as an organization. I think they are by and large building better through the draft in recent years than Seattle is, I am very envious of their offensive and defensive lines compared with Seattle’s, and I like their coaching situation a lot.

I think the two big differences between the clubs right now is at quarterback, where Seattle has the clear advantage, and that win/loss record they share. I think both of these two factors gives Seattle a good shot at beating San Francisco each time these two clubs play right now. Russell Wilson is the superior player at the single most important position on the field, and Seattle owns the psyche of San Francisco.

Think about it. I would argue that, deep down, there is more pressure on San Francisco to win these matches than Seattle feels. Yes, Seattle was the more desperate team heading into this game, but larger picture, I think their is greater pressure likely placed on the players and coaches of the 49ers by ownership and fans to beat Seattle than there is placed on the team that calls the PNW home to beat them.

When Kyle Shanahan took the 49er coaching gig, it was said to have been the hire to “beat Seattle.” When they mortgaged their future first round picks trading up last Spring to take quarterback Trey Lance, the team tweeted out something to the effect of “we’ll see your Russell Wilson and raise you Trey Lance.”

This is the stuff an organization does when another one is under their skin. I should have looked at this numbers game, and had more confidence in my Seahawks heading into this game. I had Seattle losing this in my preview prediction, 27-23.

I’m happy that I was wrong on that vibe.

Let’s break it down.

The Good

After a horrible start on offense where Shane Waldron seemed to believe Russell Wilson could beat this aggressive 49er defense from the pocket, and the 49er defense seemed to be inside his playbook, Waldron got Russ moving more by the second quarter, and the offense game came alive. Bless him for doing that.

I love Russell Wilson as a quarterback, I think he is top five talent still in this league when used the right way, but the dude isn’t a pocket passer. Getting him running, getting him moving outside the pocket, letting him use his best traits as a passer, having him a threat in numerous ways is how you make up for the fact he is a short quarterback. I don’t know if Seattle has to use some sort of rope a dope method at times to survey how a defense is playing Russ before they turn him lose, but it felt like it in this game.

Russell Wilson was the biggest difference in the game, and it was obvious. That second half red zone touchdown pass to Freddie Swain was Jedi-ish as he spun out of pressure. We have seen this so sort of play out of him so many times, and yet it is still so amazing to watch it when it happens. Russell Wilson had a fantastic day yesterday.

Alex Collins had a special day, too, as a runner. I don’t know what it is about Collins these days, but I just really like him right now in this offense. I am starting to wonder if this Waldron offense just fits him better than the other backs on this team. No disrespect to Chris Carson, but I want to see more of Collins running the ball as we get further into the season. I am becoming more convinced on him having a big impact in games.

DK Metcalf had a really good game against Minnesota last week and followed it up with another really strong game against San Francisco. It feels like things are clicking for him more in this offense, which is a really good thing. I love me some Tyler Lockett but having defenders needing to think more and more about 14 is probably more of a key to opening up this offense than anything else. That’s why it’s so vital to getting him going.

After watching what was perhaps the worst defensive effort I have ever seen from a Pete Carroll coached Seattle Seahawk team last week against Minnesota, credit Carroll and Ken Norton Junior for settling this defense down as the game went on against San Francisco, and getting them to play pretty decent ball (apart from one very obvious blown coverage).

I thought the defensive linemen and linebackers were much more tuned into what San Francisco was trying to do with their screen game against them, I liked how Seattle blended in their blitz more sparingly with rushing with only four and finding ways to get pressures, and I really liked that Tre Flowers took this game off from starting at corner. I hate ripping on players, but after that debacle against Minnie, I felt he need to ride the pine. Sidney Jones wasn’t perfect, but Seattle’s defense just seemed more functional with him in the lineup, and against good receivers, too. Having defensive back Ryan Neal on the field in Seattle’s dime look also seemed like the obvious right call. Those are some things to build on.

Finally, don’t look know, but through four games, second year defensive end Darrell Taylor has collect three sacks and is looking worthy of being that player Seattle traded up in the draft for in 2020. I really like the collection of Leo ends Seattle has with Taylor, Carlos Dunlap, and Alton Robinson. If I were Seattle, I would try to bring in an impactful interior rusher before the trade deadline. They are sitting on roughly $10 million in available cap space right now. If they can add a bit more interior rush to compliment these edge rushers, I think that could be the key to salvaging this defense and really making their club a contender. That’s my thought anyway.

The Bad

The obvious bad thing in the game was giving up yet another ugly busted coverage in the second half of this team that needlessly gave San Francisco new life. By all post game comment accounts, it was Sidney Jones who broke coverage and wasn’t on the same page with Jamal Adams. Because he is still so new to Seattle’s system and this was his first game playing, let alone starting, I can forgive this.

That said, Seattle was fortunate to be in a position in the second half of the game going against a very raw rookie quarterback who, mechanically, was all over the place, and it showed. Because Lance was throwing so many balls into the dirt, it was hard to know just how much of a step forward this defense took and how well Jones played outside the broken coverage. So, I still don’t know where we are at on the back end of this defense.

My inexpert hunch is that because there was still a communication issue that led to the broken coverage, perhaps Ken Norton Junior still needs to further simplify his defense for his defenders. My gut tells me that perhaps Norton and his coaches have put too much on this plate for their players in this scheme. Seattle carries a ridiculous amount of coaches on their staff compared to other clubs. Maybe there is just too many voices in the ears of the defenders.

I don’t know, but just spitballing what the underlined issues are, but one thing is clear; communication is still an issue and it needs to be fixed.

The Ugly

Watching the very awkward throwing motion of Trey Lance at times. It’s obvious that Lance is a naturally gifted athlete who can escape pressures and extend plays with his legs and arm, but based on this one game, he looks a long way off from being an NFL caliber starting quarterback. There were times in this game where I thought he looked more like Alex McGough than Patrick Mahomes.

He is very young into his career and could still develop into a star, but if I am San Francisco Fan who watched him play in this one and then watched Mac Jones on Sunday Night Football, I’d be questioning whether my team traded up for the right quarterback. Jones looked very capable against a Tampa defense that is much better than Seattle’s. Just sayin’.

Moving forward

This was a quality win for Seattle against a good ball club on the road. They face a division opponent in the Los Angeles Rams this Thursday night back at home.

We are all too aware of how the Rams have gotten into the psyche of Seattle over the past decade. Even when they were a bad club coached be Jeff Fisher, the Rams have given Seattle fits.

Ah, division rivalry. The Rams are to Seattle what Seattle is to San Francisco. They are our royal pain in the ass divisional opponent.

That said, I like Seattle facing them at home on a short week. I feel like I’ve seen this scenario play out before on Thursday Night Football between these two teams and it worked out in favor for the Seahawks.

It’s going to be a huge game.

Last week’s loss in Minnie had me pondering a potential Seahawk rebuild in 2022. This win against the 49ers has breathed new life in my hopes Seattle can still be a playoff contender this year. A win against the Rams this Thursday will make me feel like Seattle can still be the favorite to win their division again.

So just beat those pesky Rams. Beat them hard.

Go Hawks.

It’s odd for me to think that the 4th game of a 17 game NFL season would have such huge weight for these 2021 Seattle Seahawks; a team with a veteran Super Bowl winning and future Hall Of Famer quarterback in his prime, a Super Bowl winning future Hall Of Famer head coach, a Super Bowl winning All Pro and future Hall Of Famer middle linebacker, offensive weapons galore, and a defense that supposedly features one of the best safety tandems in the game.

Yet, here we are, looking at a Seahawk team that plays defense like the Three Stooges, and has an offense with a full blown Jekyll and Hyde complex. Not a great recipe for winning a difficult division, or even making the playoffs as a wildcard.

That said, I firmly believe that had Seattle done what it was supposed to do against Tennessee two games ago, we would have a very different feeling about these Seahawks today (even with an ass whooping from the Vikings on the road). The way they lost to the Titans left me with a very eerie feeling about this club, and I’m positive that I’m not the only Twelve that felt that. That’s why that particular loss bugged me so much.

I think it’s possible that loss had a strong carryover effect on the Seattle players heading into Minnesota. It looked that way on the field, especially for every single dude suited up to play defense. That was one of the worst defensive efforts I have ever seen on a football field.. ever.

Make no mistake, this is a huge game against San Francisco. As I have studied them from afar, there is something about that team from the Bay that hasn’t completely impressed me like I thought they would through three games. This isn’t me as a diehard Twelve speaking, either.

I have been very impressed by their coaching, offensive scheme, and their front seven on defense for a few years now. If I was a 49er fan, I would be jacked about what that team can be for the next decade of NFL football. That said, they look beatable right now.

For as loaded as they appear on their defensive line, they’ve given up yards on the ground and through the air. If Russell Wilson and Chris Carson bring their A games next Sunday, if feels like Seattle can hang points on this club. The thing is, of course, Minnesota’s defense statistically didn’t look all that either, and Seattle only managed 17 in that game. Hence the Jekyll and Hyde of the Shane Waldron offense, thus far.

Offensively is where the 49ers really scare me against what has been an inept Seahawk defense, and that’s putting it nicely. If Seattle is going to win this game, we need to see a dramatic defensive turnaround happen this Sunday. If it doesn’t, Seahawks aren’t likely to win this game, and they will sit 1-3 heading into the red hot Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night football. Oh, boy.

Therefore, this is why I say this game against the 49ers is huge. Yes, there is a lot football left to be played in a long season, but if in a week’s time, Seattle is sitting 1-4, it will take an astonishing rabbit hat trick from Pete Carroll to turn this ship around enough to still compete for a playoff spot, much less any hopes of a division title.

Would this 70 year old coach have that in him? After watching what happened in the fourth quarter against Tennessee, and what happened days ago against Minnie, I have formed serious doubts, and I have been a huge Carroll supporter in the face of many who have long jumped off his bandwagon.

I want to believe that these 2021 Pete Carroll Seattle Seahawks don’t compare with the 2008 Mike Holmgren Seattle Seahawks, where suddenly it felt like it was time for the Walrus to hang it up. I’m not going to lie, though. My mind has been going there plenty the last few days.

A win against these bitters rivals from the Bay area on their home turf this Sunday, will very likely have me putting those thoughts out of mind. A win against these 49ers followed by a win against the Rams on Thursday Night will make me think these 2021 Seattle Seahawks can still be a team of destiny this year. It’s a big week of football coming upon us.

But a loss against San Francisco will leave me with a sinking feeling that the end of a very special era in Seattle sports history is possibly coming sooner than hoped for, and an entire rebuild could be staring at us all next off-season. I’m not one for hyperbole, either.

From my perspective, if the Seattle Seahawks fall to a record that is significantly below 0.500 with a healthy Russell Wilson playing every game this year, it would be time to blow the whole damn thing up, and start fresh. Total regime change might be needed, and nobody on that roster would be sacred.

So, yeah, big game coming up.

Seahawks win this game by

Controlling tempo and clock offensively by scoring quickly when needed, and draining clock as required to secure victory. That simple.

This is Shane Waldron’s time to shine and prove he has the chops to be a quality offensive play caller. He needs to keep with the same creativity he has shown in the first half of games into the second halves of them starting this Sunday against a decent San Francisco defense. He needs to figure ways to keep Russell Wilson in third and short instead of third and forever. If they do that, they stand a good chance of pulling this game out.

Stop being a confused clown circus act of keystone cops on defense. Carroll needs to decide this week what this defense is, and just be that defense.

Are they a pressure Bear style defense where they play tight coverage with five guys on the line of scrimmage, or are they a 4-3 defense that rushes with four and drops seven into zone coverage? You can’t play the Bear front by playing soft coverage, and that appears what they have been doing so far this season. Even if they retreat back to the traditional Carroll 4-3 cover three thingy, the corners need to play with more aggression and challenge receivers for any pass rush to happen.

If the Seahawk corners can manage to challenge these 49er receivers, that should help buy time for the pass rush, and Jimmy Garoppolo is not great at handling pressure early and often. If they Seahawks can make him uneasy throughout, Seattle can and should win this game.

Seahawks lose by..

Not doing enough offensively to keep Russ in third and manageable situations where many more options become available for him to convert and sustain drives. Defenses know how to play Russ on third and long plays and Russ hasn’t figured out how to beat them with any consistency, yet. Third and longs will be a killer for the Seattle offense if they are in that situation most third downs against San Fran. The 49er pass rush is too talented.

Continuing the clown show efforts on defense by not simplifying the scheme enough to suit the talent on that side of the ball. If Seattle can not simplify what it is doing on defense so they guys can play fast and confident enough in their duties, than Pete Carroll has absolutely lost it as a defense guru. This game needs to be the start of a defensive turnaround. If it isn’t, I don’t see Seattle winning this.

Prediction

I fear it’s going to be a disappointing outcome for the Seahawks this weekend. I’m bracing for that reality now.

As of now, I have zero faith in this defensive coaching staff to turn this defense around quickly. If it happens, I think it’s going to be gradual. I think the realistic question will become whether they can turn it around enough to be playing meaningful football in December. Perhaps that should be the reasonable goal for a successful 2021 season.

San Francisco wins this game 27-23 against Seattle.

I do think it will be a game where we, as fans of Seattle, will feel like we can pull it off, but I just don’t trust that defense to hold it together in the end. I see San Francisco pulling off a late touchdown score that puts them ahead, and doesn’t give Russell Wilson and company enough time to match it.

I’m hopeful that we will see some positive improvements on offense and defense in this game. That can be a building block to salvaging this season and having Seattle playing competitively for the playoffs in December.

I hope I’m wrong, though, and Seattle pulls this one out. Right now, my trust is broken.

I can’t fathom why this team hasn’t brought in Geno Atkins to help the defensive line.

More over, I don’t get why they chose not to just offer Richard Sherman a deal. They had the salary cap space to add both dudes, and I think both make this defense significantly better. I also think Richard would have loved to had return to Seattle with an opportunity to finish his career here. I will be honest. I will be bummed about that blown opportunity for a while.

How ’bout those Mariners, though? Pretty exciting stuff there.

Go Hawks.

Hey there, 12th Life Readers.

Just another plug for our new podcast show Dorks On Sports. Episode 3 dropped yesterday, and I wanted to share here.

This episode was a lot of fun to record Monday night, despite re-living the dreadful Seahawks loss to the Vikings. It’s a shorter episode than the previous two, and I think for future episodes, we would like to have them all run at about 40 minutes or so as compared to the roughly hour long ones we recorded with the first two.

In this episode we lament the state of the Seahawk defense, I create a bit of chaos when I suggest that if the Seahawks don’t get a win within the next week between the 49ers and Rams, the result could become an entire rebuild next year. Things get much cheerier and goofy after that, especially when we talk Mariners, and other what-nots.

You can watch these episodes on YouTude, or follow the audio on Spotify and Podbean. If you dig, please spread the love. We really enjoy doing these, and I absolutely love my podcast team.

Thoughts On Richard Sherman And The Seahawks

Well, anyone who has regularly reading my little blog knows how much I have wanted to see the Seattle Seahawks reunite with Richard Sherman. I saw a very obvious need at cornerback heading into the preseason, and I saw an even greater need after the first three real games of the regular season. From a pure football sense, bringing Richard Sherman back to Seattle just made too much sense for it not to happen, especially considering that he wanted to come home.

From a fan’s perspective, a Richard Sherman return also made a ton of sense. Sure, there would be a group of fans who wouldn’t be down for the idea. They would recite that his awful sideline antics from five years ago, and all the alleged beefs that he had with Russell Wilson and the way the team coddled the quarterback, and I very much understand all that.

That said, I believe that the vast majority for Seahawk fans would have glowingly welcomed him back, and his infusion back into this defense would have very likely gotten a fan base that is growing more and more impatient with Pete Carroll and John Schneider, jacked up and excited. I cannot help but think of the missed opportunity here.

We all know who and what Richard Sherman is. He’s a highly intelligent and talented football player, and he is as fierce of a competitor as there is in the league. He also demands accountability, not only from those around him, but from himself first and foremost. He’s also a natural leader and teacher and his teammates on defense love him.

In my humble opinion, Seattle whiffed on the opportunity to bring him back big time. If they can’t turn this defense around enough to make it to the playoffs this year, their decision to not bring him back will be heavily scrutinized by fans that are increasingly starting to get more and more put off by the decision making processes of this club.

Richard Sherman mentioned Seattle in his press conference yesterday and he used the term “stringing along.” Richard Sherman took a minimum contract with Tampa to play this year.

Seattle couldn’t find it within themselves to offer him that, especially after what happened against Tennessee?

I don’t know how that sits with you but it is not sitting well with me.

Presently, the Seattle Seahawks are sitting comfortably with over $10 million in salary space right now. I cannot remember the last time they have carried this much into a regular season.

Chances are they are going to trade to pull off a trade for a big name player before the trade deadline with that amount of cap space. My hunch is that player could very easily be a cornerback, probably that Gilmore dude in New England is a good bet, and maybe that turns their season around and the make the playoffs yet again.

Some will praise them for being geniuses for making the move, but here is how I am likely to look at it, if that trade is ultimately for a corner. I am going to look at the fact they could have had Sherman on the cheap, and they could have used that money perhaps on a pro bowl quality center to finally fix the offensive line, or they could have used it on a big time pass rusher TO FURTHER SOLIDIFY THE DEFENSIVE LINE.

So, yeah. I’m a little bummed that they didn’t actually make Richard Sherman any offer, that they just strung him along, and really, strung many of us along, too.

I really hope that the beat these 49ers this Sunday. I can use that win. Amen.

Go Hawks!

Honestly, I have managed to take this ugly loss to Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings much better than I did the loss against the Tennessee Titans last week. Against Tennessee, Seattle had a comfortable lead going into the 4th quarter, and they pooped it away.

Giving a winnable game away is the worst way to lose. It’s like opening a closet door at a cocktail party and finding your partner making out with a waiter.

It annoyed me all week. I couldn’t shake how annoyed I was at Jamal Adams for giving up containment on a sixty yard scoring run, and at Russell Wilson for not taking easy check down passes in the final minutes to keep critical drives away.

This one is different.

Yes, Seattle started hot on offense, but their defense looked like a hot dumpster fire mess from the get go against Cousins and company. It felt like it would have to be “that sorta” shootout win. I messaged a friend that I felt it would come down to which defensive coordinator would adjust his defense better.

Clearly, we found that answer out right away.

The season is still early for Seattle, and there is a lot of football left to be played, but here we are again in the early portions of a NFL season feeling like Seahawk defensive coordinator Ken Norton Junior is way out of his element, and maybe Seattle needs to make an early season coaching change.

Will they? I don’t know. I will share my thoughts if they should later, but here on my thoughts on this game against Minnesota.

The Good

DK Metcalf got going from the beginning and played well to the end. This was a really nice effort from the big receiver who’s been a bit slow to get going.

Chris Carson ran the ball very well in the first half. It’s a shame he didn’t continue to have a big impact in the second half, though, and it looked like he got injured a bit.

I enjoyed seeing the tight ends more involved again in the passing game.

Russell Wilson started the game red hot and continued to have a decent first half of ball. They game got harder for him in the second half when he had to chase the lead and the defense was able to key on him more. There is a memo out in the league with how to play Russell Wilson on third and long by showing pressure and then dropping back into cover two (more on this later). Seattle must figure out how to counter this.

The Bad

The whole entire defense was awful. In fact, it was worse. It was putrid.

Tre Flowers looks busted as a starting corner.

Jamal Adams looked lost as a “defensive weapon.”

Poona Ford got steamrolled against the run.

Quandre Diggs missed tackles (Adams did too).

Darrell Taylor, again, gave up containment against outside run plays.

Almost everyone played like butt.

To be fair, Seattle was without Andre Curtis, their pass defense coordinator, who didn’t make the flight for an unknown reason, but my God, Ken Norton Junior has got to be feeling the heat after this game. He should. His defense looked entirely lost and confused.

DJ Reed said bluntly post game that they were out schemed. Lack of communication, yet again, was noted by other players as a factor.

That’s all on Ken Norton Junior’s watch. It is his job to make sure that they are playing together as one, and that communication is a non issue. It’s his job to not be out schemed.

If it doesn’t turn around soon, I’m sorry, Norton’s gotta go. I don’t care who calls plays afterwards. Carroll can do it, if need be. Maybe give long time defensive line coach Clint Hurtt a crack at it. Maybe finally bring Kam Chancellor onto the coaching staff while they’re at it. It can’t hurt.

The Ugly

See the Seattle Seahawks defense.

Moving forward

Russell Wilson isn’t going to cook much this year, if he has to spend most of the second half of game chasing leads. There is a league memo on how to play him on third and long by showing pressures and then pulling into some variation of cover two that defends outside the hashes. From the pocket, Russell Wilson is showing that throwing middle of the field isn’t either his strong suit, or it isn’t his comfy zone. Could easily be both. Either way, it’s making it very easy for him to be defended right now.

Therefore, it is up to Seattle to figure out ways to either be in third and short most times, or to figure out how Russ can better target the middle areas defenses are willing to give him. Being more committed to running will help. Having Russ as a running threat would help. Creating ways for him to throw outside of the pocket more often surely would help.

But do not kid yourself by being a Russell Wilson apologist, and finding every other avenue connected to the team to blame, but the quarterback. Russell Wilson will never win MVP if he cannot, with consistency, attack the middle of the field. It won’t happen for him in Seattle or any place else. Sorry if that reality bursts your bubble some.

Another thing that will most certainly help Russell Wilson out is if Seattle can fix their defense enough so that Russ doesn’t have to chase leads during the second half of games with any regularity. The NFC West is too competitive for Seattle to have a weak defense and expect to retain their title. All the other teams in the division have good offenses with capable to good defenses. Seattle currently does not.

Therefore, this defense needs to get fixed and it needs to start this week as they head South to play the 49ers (who are stinging now some from their first loss).

I would strongly encourage Carroll to suck it up, and just sign Richard Sherman. If that doesn’t make Russell Wilson totally happy because of their past, who the flip cares? He can get over it. At this point, he might even welcome it.

They should sign defensive tackle Geno Atkins, as well. Maybe even add veteran linebacker help.

They might need to go back to the old cover three defense that the team has known for years, have Adams as a purely box safety, and Diggs as the single high safety. Just rush with four, and play coverage, and stop it with the YOLO blitzing that any capable quarterback can dice apart.

Clearly, this continuation of the Bear defense is a hot flaming mess right now. Teams have answers for when they blitz, and their cover two is waaaaay to leaky. I don’t think they have the linebackers to run it. Bobby Wagner has only ever played in a cover three. Jordyn Brooks is more of a run stopper than coverage backer.

The thing that is stunningly odd to me is that Seattle didn’t blitz much against the Colts and their defense had its best game. Why have they turned away from that the last two games now? Does Jamal Adams need to blitz in order to feel happy? Goodness, I hope that isn’t the case.

Sign Richard Sherman tomorrow. Sign Geno Aktins, too. Do it.

Or this season might just get out of hand quickly, and the whole narrative about Seattle will be an eventual Russell Wilson trade next off-season, or maybe a Pete Carroll firing. Maybe even both. Not kidding.

For those who think it’s the coach that needs to go, I got news for you. Pete Carroll has perhaps more power than any other head coach in the league. I don’t see Jody Allen likely firing him short of a total team collapse. He’s probably here until at least 2025.

That said, ultimately, the state of this team is on Pete Carroll. He’s the one who chose to stay with Ken Norton Junior at the DC instead of bringing back Dan Quinn or Kris Richard (who were both available). He’s the one who chose not to bring back Richard Sherman and KJ Wright in favor of younger more unproven talent. He’s the one who has chosen to go ultra light at defensive tackle and further away from his standard 4-3 under defense that he has coached to success for decades.

If this ship of his continues to sail in this direction throughout 2021, maybe Jody Allen will have her first really difficult decision to make as an NFL owner. And for those of you who think it should be the coach going instead of the quarterback, I have this question to ask you right now.

What competent NFL coach is going to want to inherit a short quarterback, who isn’t a spring chicken anymore, who doesn’t reliably hit the middle of the field, and is on an expensive contract soaking up nearly twenty percent of the cap space for his roster?

In the waging war on Seahawks Twitter of who should go, Pete or Russ, there does exist a cold brutal reality that it could be both, fairly easily, if things don’t get fixed. Bury your head in the sand, if you will, but it’s there. Total rebuild could be right around the corner.

So, get it done, Pete Carroll. This is on you to fix it. Too much is at stake. Get. It. Done.

Go Hawks.

Ah, what a difference a week makes in the life of a Seahawks fan.

Last week, I couldn’t wait to get to writing my preview of the Seahawks Vs Tennessee Titans game. This week, I am gnashing my teeth at a Seahawk team who managed to give up a comfortable lead heading into the fourth quarter, only to lose it in overtime against a Titans team who’s safeties appeared to have dropped acid minutes before kickoff.

To make matters a bit more annoying, based on press conference comments in recent days between Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson, there doesn’t to be an aligned opinion between the two as to whether Russell should have taken the check downs available to him in overtime (which may have helped Seattle win). Great to see the two biggest leaders of the team outwardly expressing their different points of view heading into a tough match up against the Vikings.

Well, what do these 2021 Seattle Seahawks have for us against these fearless Minnesota Vikings of the North this Sunday?

What do they have, indeed.

That’s a mighty good question to ask that, frankly, I dunno because the games against the Colts and Titans were so schizo different.

Let’s just take a wild stab in the dark this week, and see what sticks.

Seahawks beat the Vikings by..

Going back to the creativity on offense that they used against the Colts defense. Thus far, Seattle has not been getting great play for the center position on the offensive line. So, reverting back to some version of “Schotty Ball” against the Titans was an odd choice, especially considering how well motions, miss directions, and sweeps kept a much better Colts defense guessing the week prior. It is still a mystery to me why Seattle chose not to emphasis this style of offense against Tennessee. The motions, wrinkles, window dressing, all feels a perfect fit for Russell Wilson, and keeps him from having to trust a suspect center by hanging inside the pocket, waiting for Tyler Lockett to pop open. Seahawks just need to go back to what they did offensively in week one, and loss the stuff from week two into the trash.

Play containment on defense against the run. Tennessee broke the code on what looked like the makings of a promising 2021 Seattle Seahawk defense. They used Seattle’s aggression (Jamal Adams) against them. Two of Derrick Henry’s big touchdown rambles were on plays where Seattle gave up containment on the opposite side of where the run play looked to be going, and Henry is a special enough of a ball carrier to take advantage. In my eyes, Darrell Taylor gave up containment on the first one, and Jamal Adams did what looked like a stupid gamble on the other that resulted in a 60 yard score. Seahawks cannot make this a pattern for other teams to exploit. Seahawks need to contain Dalvin Cook in this one. Edge defenders need to secure that edge and force the runs inside to where Al Woods, Poona Ford, and Bobby Wagner can have impact.

Playing better coverage at linebacker in cover two. Seattle needs Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks to understand their zone responsibilities better against Minnesota than they did against Tennessee. It appeared that they dropped too deep in coverage and that invited Ryan Tannehill to dink and dunk them to death in that horrendous fourth quarter. He wasn’t even looking at his outside receivers. Kirk Cousins is Captain Checkdown in the National Football League. If Seattle can’t get their two starting middle backers to adjust better against Cousins, they might as well scrap cover two this year. A big key to that style is having the ability for the inside linebacker to cover. If these two guys can adjust (as they should), it will force Cousins to have to make harder throws.

Seahawks lose this game by..

Not fully embracing the creativity of what this Shane Waldron offense can be and they revert to a watered down “play it close to the vest” style of offense that we saw so much of last year during the second half of the season. It’s clear to me that Seattle’s biggest strength is its offense, and the best way to use their best player in Russell Wilson, is to throw as many looks and wrinkles at a struggling defense as they can, just like they did against the Colts. If they don’t, they will likely play in the hands of potentially losing a shootout.

Gambling with over aggression on defense will be a killer for Seattle against Dalvin Cook. If Seattle doesn’t play discipline in their gap assignments and on their edge responsibilities, this game could get really ugly for Seattle. Cook is perhaps an even better perimeter runner than Derrick Henry is.

Not taking full advantage of their pass rush against a weak Minnesota offensive line. Based on the metric grading of Pro Football Focus, Alton Robinson has been Seattle’s best pass rusher through these first two games. Oddly, he has been getting the least amount of snaps out of all the edge rushers in their rotation. This needs to change, and if Carroll doesn’t stay to his words about Robinson getting more time against the Vikings, and if Seattle’s pass rush doesn’t show up well enough, Carroll’s got nobody to blame but himself for that. Robinson needs to be used more. Personally, I think he’s making a case to be the starting LEO end.

Prediction

Seahawks rebound in this came by playing a more balanced and creative style of offense that controls clock and tempo against a struggling Minnesota defense. Russ gets back to a more decisive disbursement of the ball, tight ends and running backs become bigger factors, and Seattle’s pass rush becomes more alive against a talented Minnesota offense that feels it needs to win a shootout.

Seahawks win a close shootout 31-27.

I see Kirk Cousins needing to lead a come from behind in the final minute or two, and Carlos Dunlap gets his big mitts on the ball as it leaves Kirk’s hand, and it wobbles off target into the loving embrace of Qaundre Diggs. Last play of the game is a Russell Wilson kneel down, and we all feel better about these 2021 Seahawks next week as they get ready to face the 49ers.

Go Hawks!

Howdy all 12th Life Readers!

We got a new episode of Dorks On Sports for you where we recap the game against Tennessee, give predictions on the Seahawks game against the Vikings, talk Mariners, and have a great pop culture discussion at the end.

I pose the question as to whether Russell Wilson is an addict. Do it up!

Go Hawks!

Ever feel like you want to pour salt on the open flesh wound that you’re feeling after a Seahawks loss?

Just go surf Twitter for a while to intensify your misery.

There you will find all sorts of reasons to cast blame on why your Seattle Seahawks suck. Pete Carroll sucks because he is a dinosaur. Russell Wilson sucks because he can’t throw over the middle of a defense and doesn’t look for his outlet receivers. Jamal Adams sucks because he didn’t make enough plays. Tre Flowers just sucks, and so does the Seattle offensive line. And while, we’re at it, Shane Waldron now sucks too.

There, if you haven’t surfed Seahawks Twitter, I spared you the expense.

Here’s my bold hot take for your Monday morning blues. The Seattle Seahawks suck because they started a candle lit slow dance to Al Green music with Hubris in the first quarter of this weird game, and they didn’t stop until they were beaten in overtime.

The Seattle Seahawks should have won this game. They should have beaten the Titans soundly, just like they did the Colts the week before. But they got full of themselves, and the Titans (bless them) stayed the course of their identity, and they pulled off the big win. Bravo to Tennessee for everything they did, but Seattle gave this one away.

Here are my notes.

The Good

Despite being, in my opinion, severely undermanned at defensive tackle, I thought Seattle’s defensive held together pretty well at slowing All-World running back Derrick Henry until he popped that 60 yard TD rambler on a broken outside contain in the second half. Until that play happened, the defense had him held to a little over three yards a carry, which is what you would want. I thought Al Woods and Poona Ford held in at defensive tackle admirably give the volume of reps that they were asked to play in this game.

The special connection that Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett have together remained live and well throughout this game. Yes, there was a broken coverage (or two) that helped that, but you can’t take away the special mind meld these two have with each other, and it showed up again in this one.

The sack fumble by Alton Robinson was special. I am a big fan of this second year defensive end out of Syracuse. He reminds me of Cliff Avril at times, and I worry that because of his meager draft status of being a fifth round pick in 2020, that he is not being utilized enough. Given the opportunity to play, he seems to understand containment against the run, and the dude can pass rush. This is pretty much all you can ask out of a defensive end. I want to see him play a bigger role in this defense.

That one minute drill Russell Wilson led with the offense right before the half was some of the prettiest offensive football that I’ve seen from a Seahawk offense under Pete Carroll. Russ was surgical with his sideline passes and had full control of the situation. Seeing that scoring drive happen gave me all the confidence in the world that Seattle would blow out these Titans during the second half. What a shameful waste the opposite happened because this drive was just so darn pretty to watch.

The Bad

In my opinion, hubris was the main reason Seattle lost this game, and I will take it right to where the official 2021 season began after the final preseason roster cuts.

Why on God’s green planet would Seattle only carry three true defensive tackles on their roster heading into the regular season facing opponents specifically known for running the ball?

Why?

For a defense that largely still plays out of some variation of a 4-3 defense, even with a more Bear front, why go undermanned inside, especially with a proven veteran player like Geno Aktins sitting out there in free agency?

Did they honestly think that calling up former first round flame out Robert Nkemdiche from the practice squad would be the secret sauce should one of their regular DT’s such as Brian Mone get injured and couldn’t play?

Needless to say, Seattle needed Mone in this one to help stop Henry. But they also probably could have used Geno Aktins in this one, as well. As my dear old dad used to say, you can never have enough defensive linemen. I think a chief reason why we suddenly started to see the defense break down in the second half is tied to defensive tackle and asking the bigger defensive ends to rotate in at tackle as well. If Seattle would have used a four man rotation at DT, I think there’s a very reasonable chance the defensive ends and other perimeter players would have stayed fresher throughout. It is hubris for Seattle’s front office and perhaps Seattle’s coaches to think they are fine with only three big men inside. It cost them in this game.

During that 60 yard TD run, Rasheem Green darted inside from his DE position, and gave up containment to Jamal Adams who was ready to make a splash. Both looked stupid on this play when they gave up containment. Earlier, Henry had a red zone score by bouncing outside when edge rusher Darrell Taylor gave up his containment. Tennessee used Seattle’s hubris filled over eagerness and aggression against them, and they burned them. Containment is football 101 stuff and the Seahawk defenders flunked this coarse against Henry. Hubris.

AND WTF WAS GOING ON WITH DK METCALF IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS GAME? Has DK Metcalf suddenly become Dennis Rodman with his taunts and bully play at receiver? Is he still not aware of this stupid taunting penalty the league has adopted this year even after drawing that penalty last week against the Colts? And what was up with his stupidly overly aggressive run blocks? The Seahawk coaches better start reigning this dude in now. Russell Wilson has got to show his leadership with him, if he isn’t listening. What hubris filled plague has gotten the better of him, and what kind of vaccine is out there that we can inject into him? I fear this could be a major problem moving forward, if not properly treated.

Was Russell Wilson caught up once again in his own brand of hubris in chasing big plays instead of taking the outlets that were available to him in the second half? Did Shane Waldron just see the side of Russ that Brian Schottenheimer and Darrell Bevell became all to familiar with as former play callers here?

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m much too much of a cheap ass to pay for the All 22 reel to rewatch stuff, but that said, on that crucial 3rd and manageable play in the fourth quarter where Russ took the deeper shot to DK down the sideline, I find it very difficult to imagine that Waldron didn’t have someone in available for Russ on a shorter pattern against this poor pass coverage team. I find it hard to believe that wasn’t the plan.

If I have one big criticism for Russell Wilson as a player, it would be his penchant for chasing the big play in times where he just needs to dump the ball off or extend with his legs. I feel like this is his slow dance with hubris in games.

Why weren’t the tight ends involved against the Titans like they were against the Colts? The Colts have better linebackers and safeties that Tennessee does? Was it Tennessee’s design to take them away, or what it’s Russ’s hubris to go for the splashier play?

Finally, where was the motion plays, and jet sweeps called in this one? Isn’t that supposed to be the hallmark of this new offense? I know they were without Dee Eskridge in this one, but are you telling me that Seattle’s offense is entirely built on only Eskridge running those plays to neutralize defenders? That’s just stupid if the answer is yes. Feels like hubris on the coaching staff that they weren’t utilizing these looks enough, if at all. The whole point of this offense is to give as many looks as you can to get them on their heels to help Russ out. What the hell happened here?

Hubris beat these Seahawks period. Dirty stinking hubris.

The Ugly

Jamal Adams getting punked and bullied by an overly jazzed up backup tight end was hard to watch. The is so much WTF in this can, I don’t even want to entertain opening it up and examining. Good God, that was hard to watch. Why on Earth wasn’t that dude called for any taunting?

Hmmmmmmmmm..

Moving forward

The Seattle front office needs to get off their asses and sign a defensive tackle this week. Seattle is sitting comfortable with over $10 million in cap space. That’s an unusually high number going into the regular season.

They could add Geno Atkins, and maybe Richard Sherman if they wanted to. They might even be able to add a linebacker.

This defense simply does not feel complete right now. I think they have a nice collection of edge rushers to help against pass happy teams. I like their middle linebackers and safeties.

The corners still feel like they can be picked on though, and when Tennessee was able to really get Henry going in the second half, they didn’t have to concern themselves with Seattle’s four man pass rush much.

For as much of passing evolution as there has been with this game of NFL football, there are things that will always remain the same so long as it’s played. If you can’t stop the run, you aren’t going to get sacks and turn overs. You earn the right to pass rush because you have taken the run away. It’s that simple. It will always be that simple.

In this game, it was Tennessee who earned the right to pass rush in the waning moments of this game, and it showed.

Seattle now has to face the Vikings and 49ers, both teams that love to run the ball to set up everything thing else. Seattle has got to figure out how to shore up it’s run defense.

Go get Geno Aktins, John Schneider. Don’t let hubris control you any longer. If you are simply waiting for a bigger fish to trade for towards the deadline, you can still manage that trade by cutting someone off the squad then. You’re a creative sort. Be creative now. Please.

Go Hawks.

Nobody likes to see their favorite sports franchise ripped from their market, and moved hundreds to thousands of miles away.

If you, as a Seahawks fan, are searching for reasons to despise the Tennessee Titans as they come to town this week, I call upon you to remember the Houston Oilers.

And if you are much too young to do that, I say to you “remember the Seattle SuperSonics.”

Through the 1980’s into the 1990’s, the Houston Oilers were a darling team in the NFL. They had the original Beastmode running back in Earl Campbell, and after his tires ran out, they plucked former Washington Husky bomber Warren Moon from the Canadian Football League, and made him the first promiment African American quarterback in the league. The offense than they ran with Moon, own as the Run And Shoot, quickly became the most Must See TV offense in the league.

As a team, they broke a significant glass ceiling for black quarterbacks, and they ushered in a new style of passing offense. They also played fierce on defense with an intimidating 4-3 style that dominated by rushing with four down linemen. Viewing them from afar, it was very hard not to admire that team.

Then by the mid 1990’s, their owner, in a battle with local government over funds for a new stadium, pulled the team out of Houston, moved them to Tennessee, and they eventually became the Titans. It was a dick move that I am sure all Seattle SuperSonic fans understand all too well.

If you are going to the stadium this Sunday to welcome your beloved Seattle Seahawks back into town after their nifty road win against the Colts, scream your f’ing head off against these Titans all game long. Remember the Oilers. Remember the Seattle SuperSonicis

These dreadful Titans will be coming in looking to right their ship after an embarrassing home loss against the Cardinals, and we need to do everything we can to bury them deep into the turf at Lumen Field, and have them return home shaking quaking shadows of themselves. This is our mission, if we choose to accept it.

Seahawks win this game by..

Staying aggressive with Russell Wilson in their newfound Shane Waldron offense. It was a nice outing against a good Colt defense for this offense, and there is little reason why they can’t do it again at home against these Titan defenders that had problems with Kyler Murray. Waldron needs to keep calling an offensive style that suits what Russ does best, getting on the move, going up tempo, going play action, getting the Titan defenders on their heels with the run and pass, and using Russ’s abilities to do both himself, if need be. Continue to be aggressive and dictating as an offense.

Taking care of the football and take the ball away from Tennessee. Russ needs to continue being decisive with the football and take whatever the Titan D is giving up. There’s no need to force whatever isn’t there. Chris Carson and company need to stay secure with the football in his hands. Seahawk defenders probably need to force some turnovers.

Not letting Derrick Henry get going. Heading into Seattle, the Titans are probably going to refocus their offensive attack towards getting the ball into superstar running back Derrick Henry’s hands more than the 17 carries he had against Arizona. If Seattle continues to only carry three true defensive tackles on their roster, I would test that run defense more. Seattle needs to stay strong and disciplined up front, and they need to be rock star tacklers to make Henry’s day a long one.

Get up with the scoring early and unleash the dogs up front. Seattle looks like they might have a deep bag of riches at edge rusher. Rasheem Green looks like he finally found his home used more as an edge rusher. Carlos Dunlap and Benson Mayowa appear to be in mid season veteran form. My goodness, do second year edge rushers Darrell Taylor and Alton Robinson ever look dynamic. If Seattle can force Tennessee to win with Ryan Tannehill going against this pass rush most of the game, with sixty plus thousand jacked up screaming Twelves, Seattle should be in good shape to get another W.

Seahawks lose this one by..

Loosing the line of scrimmage battle. Second year starting guard Damien Lewis didn’t practice on Thursday, and suddenly listed with a groin injury. Reserve tackle/guard JaMarco Jones didn’t practice and is listed with a knee injury. One time starting center Ethan Pocic as been placed on Injured reverse. Suddenly, Seattle’s interior portion of their offensive line feels more worrisome, and Tennessee has a talented young defensive tackle in Jeffery Simmons to contend with. Also, as noted above, Seattle is only carrying three true defensive tackles on it roster, and that feels uncomfortably thin for a club that still spends a lot of time working out of a 4-3. If I am to be honest, these things concern me.

Stumbling on offense and not getting their balanced style going well enough. Seattle needs to avoid the prat fall of thinking they are suddenly the greatest show on turf with this Waldron offense and come into this game thinking that they got it in the bag. Tennessee is a proud veteran team that has made the playoffs two years in a row. As a unit, Seattle’s offense needs to play with poise. They must limit the false starts and illegal formations that get them in long situations on downs, and they have to take care of the ball in the rain.

Not stopping Derek Henry on the ground will put Seattle’s defense in a bind. Tennessee has top end talent at receiver and if Tennessee is able to run with authority, Ryan Tannehill’s job will get very easy at Lumen Field in front of a disappointed crowd of Twelves. This could force Russell Wilson to win a shoot out in the rain where, statistically, he can struggle, at times.

Prediction

The Seattle home crowd will walk out of Lumen Field happy in this one. The Seahawks avenge the Houston Oilers and Seattle SuperSonics by beating the Tennessee Titans 34-27.

I expect more scoring in this one for both clubs. Tennessee, in my opinion, has more talent on offense than the Colts do, but their defense isn’t as strong. This smells of a greater offensive output for both clubs.

Seattle will continue its campaign of rolling out the sleek new Shane Waldron offense, even if they have to roll without Damien Lewis at left guard. I see Chris Carson having a big game with the run and pass. I see Russell throwing multiple touchdowns once again, and maybe even taking one in himself. I think a decisive quick passing game will help mitigate any potential troubles up front. I see a very pretty deep ball being tossed and caught down field eventually because, frankly, Tennessee doesn’t appear to be a great pass rushing or coverage team yet (just as they weren’t last year, either).

I think the Seahawk defense might come back to Earth a bit more in this match. I really like the speed Seattle plays with in its front seven these days, and I believe that’s going to help with against Henry, but I see Tannehill finding more success through the air than Wentz did last Sunday. Seattle’s corners and safeties will be tested more, but in the the end, I see Seattle’s pass rush continuing to make a major impact down the stretch.

I can easily see the final seconds of the game ending on Rasheem Green busting through the offensive line for a sack/fumble on Tannehill, to which Poona Ford collects, and then the games expires with a Russell Wilson kneel down. It just has that sorta feel to me.

We shall see.

Go Hawks!